Having first impacted our website way back in 2014, 19-year old rising El Paso crooner Khalid has been building a strong a name for himself over the past few years thanks in particular to singles like “Authentic” & “Location”, which caught a co-sign from Kylie Jenner on Snapchat last May. But now signed to RCA & looking to take the next step in his career, the R&B crooner decides to come though today and release his debut album called American Teen. The album debuted at number nine on the Billboard 200 with 37,000 album-equivalent units, of which 12,000 were pure album sales.

Khalid Robinson made major commercial headway in early 2017 with “Location,” a drowsy, teetering ballad the singer and songwriter seemed to deliver while lying on his bed, or maybe someone else’s couch, eyes glued to his phone, just after waking up. In that song, and through much of what fills out American Teen, his debut album, Robinson’s not one to get worked up. He’s in no particular rush, content to drift through life while accepting, and occasionally sort of celebrating, the present. “American Teen” itself – hollowed-out late-’80s mall pop with a disco-funk bassline – is a youth anthem of shrugging aimlessness. There’s not a whole lot of enthusiasm for revelry, dulled by substances, apathy, a combination of the two, or just the aspiration to look the part: “I’m so faded off of all the things I’ve taken, and maybe I’m not really drunk, maybe I’m really good at faking.” There are points at which Robinson makes Frank Ocean sound like Teddy Pendergrass. On “Young Dumb & Broke,” the mere concept of commitment seems so silly to him that he can’t be bothered to enunciate the word, or maybe he just lost interest after the second syllable. After a nonchalant chorus that consists primarily of the song’s title and a lethargic warble – surprise – he dumps one of his best melodies in the bridge. While he opens “Another Sad Love Song” by confessing “I’m not the best at showing my emotions,” some bright moments make it apparent that Robinson has clearly sold himself short. Dusty ballad “Cold Blooded,” in particular, demonstrates that he’s perfectly capable of conveying grief without being overly demonstrative. When alert, he can be a force.